Thiruvananthapuram: IFFK director Kamal has promised to join green protocol volunteers on Tagore Theatre premises in a silent campaign spreading the message that ‘Our waste is our responsibility.’ “I will join them on Thursday morning,” he said. They will pick waste tossed carelessly by delegates, segregate it and put it in the bins. The volunteers, members of the Green Village agency, started their clean-up activity on Wednesday. The heaps that they collected consisted of cigarettes as well as disposable plates.
The counter run by Central Prison, Poojappura, has been serving food in disposable plates, though it is banned in Thiruvanan-thapuram corporation. They had agreed to take back the waste that was generated. However, delegates would carry their food to other points which do not have any bins. Now the most littered points have been mapped and the bins have been repositioned. Still, a stretch which the volunteers cleaned in the morning became foul with waste.
“It is not that people don’t know what they are supposed to do. This morning, when we picked waste which was lying next to the feet of delegates, most did not respond. Some felt that this was useless as people would litter again,” says P.S. Babitha, programme manager, Green Vilage. Green Village was assigned with ensuring that green protocol is implemented. Its technical director S.A. Jyothis says, “the agreement was signed with us almost at the last minute. Even before that, the Kerala State Chalachitra Academy had entered into contracts with various food catering contractors. The information about avoiding disposable plates and cups and keeping the premises plastic-free could not be passed on to them,” he says. Many caterers eventually cooperated with the green protocol idea by using steel plates as well as mud and glass tumblers.
